80: Chapter 80 The Truth of the Blood Sacrifice

Black Wind Mountain Range, fringe area.

Five streaks of light descended from the sky and landed on a dried-up riverbed.

The moment Bai Yunzhou landed, he immediately activated "Chaos Perception", and his Divine Sense spread outward like a tidal wave.

Every detail within a radius of ten miles was clearly reflected in his Sea of Consciousness.

Withered bushes, broken beast bones, charred earth... and the faint scent of blood in the air.

"Something is wrong." He said in a low voice.

"What is it?" Song Xinghe gripped his sword hilt tightly.

"It's too quiet." Ling Shuang looked around. "Although the Black Wind Mountain Range is desolate, there should be Low Grade Yao Beasts active. But now, not even the chirping of insects can be heard."

Deng Mufeng squatted down, swiped her finger across the ground, and brought it to the tip of her nose to sniff: "The blood scent is very fresh, no more than three hours. And... there are traces of a Formation."

A pale golden Talisman emerged in the palm of her hand, slowly rotating and emitting a soft glow.

Where the light reached, dense red patterns emerged on the ground—those were Formation lines hidden beneath the soil, slowly writhing like a living creature.

"Blood Fiend Maze Formation." Deng Mufeng's expression was solemn. "A Tier 4 Restriction Formation, once stepped into, one will fall into the blood fiend illusion. The Cultivator who set up the Formation is at least in the Early Stage of Nascent Soul."

Zhou Zhiting took a step forward: "Can it be broken?"

"Yes, but it will take time." Deng Mufeng took out a stack of Formation-breaking Talismans. "At least a quarter of an hour."

Bai Yunzhou shook his head: "We don't have that much time."

He looked towards the depths of the mountain range, where a faint crimson light soared into the sky, intertwining with the dark clouds in the sky to form a bizarre scene.

"Furthermore, the other party already knows we are here."

Before his voice faded—

"Rumble!!!"

The ground shook violently, and the originally dried-up riverbed suddenly split open with countless cracks. Dark red bloody water gushed out from the cracks, instantly submerging the entire riverbed.

The bloody water churned, condensing into dozens of thick tentacles that swept towards the five of them.

"Retreat!"

Bai Yunzhou shouted loudly, his figure retreating rapidly while pulling out the liefeng sword.

The sword light was like lightning, severing three tentacles.

However, after the severed tentacles landed, they immediately turned into blood mist and re-condensed, their numbers actually increasing.

"These blood tentacles have regenerative abilities!" Song Xinghe slashed open two tentacles with a sword, shouting a reminder.

Ling Shuang drew the ice-blue longsword on her back.

The sword was named "Frost", and its blade was crystal clear, as if carved from millennium mysterious ice. With a single slash of her sword, a freezing Sword Qi swept across, and wherever it passed, the blood tentacles were completely frozen, then shattered inch by inch.

But there was simply too much bloody water, continuously gushing out from the underground as if endless.

"We must find the Formation core!" Deng Mufeng said anxiously while setting up a Talisman Formation for defense.

Bai Yunzhou closed his eyes, urging Chaos Perception to its maximum.

Within his perception, hidden beneath the entire riverbed was a huge blood-red whirlpool. In the center of the whirlpool, nine blood-red crystals were slowly rotating, providing a steady stream of blood fiend power.

"Thirty zhang underground, nine o'clock direction!"

He opened his eyes, the liefeng sword pointing straight at the ground.

"Open for me!"

Green Lotus Sword Intent was infused into the blade, and the tip of the sword bloomed with brilliant cyan light. With a single sword thrust down, the ground exploded into a deep pit, revealing the dim space below.

"Let's go!"

The five of them leaped into the pit.

During the descent, Bai Yunzhou continuously slashed out seven swords, each sword accurately shattering a blood-red crystal.

When the ninth crystal shattered, the entire Blood Fiend Maze Formation collapsed with a loud crash.

The bloody water flowed backward, and the tentacles dissipated.

Everyone landed, finding themselves standing before the entrance of a deep, dark passage.

On the walls on both sides of the passage were embedded phosphorescent stones emitting a gloomy green light, barely illuminating the path ahead. The air was damp and cold, carrying a heavy musty smell and... the scent of rotting corpses.

"This is... artificially excavated?" Zhou Zhiting looked at the neat chisel marks on the wall.

"No." Ling Shuang stroked the wall, frost condensing on her fingertips. "These marks have a history of at least a hundred years. Wanmo Cave was originally the Immortal Cave of ancient demonic Cultivators, later occupied and modified by the Blood God Cult."

Bai Yunzhou took the lead and walked into the passage.

The further inward they went, the heavier that putrid stench became.

Having walked about a hundred zhang, a faint groan came from ahead.

Everyone looked at each other and quickened their pace.

Turning a corner, the sight before them made everyone gasp—

The end of the passage was a huge cavern, and in the center of the cavern was a blood pool twenty zhang in diameter. The bloody water in the pool churned, bubbling and emitting a nauseating fishy stench.

Around the blood pool, dozens of stone pillars stood upright.

On each stone pillar, a person was locked with iron chains.

They wore clothes of various colors—some were Loose Cultivators, some were Sect Disciples, and there were even a few young people wearing the outer gate garments of a Holy Land. Everyone's face was pale, their aura was lingering on the verge of death, and blood-red runes were branded between their eyebrows.

The iron chains penetrated through their wrists and ankles, with the other end connected to the blood pool. Along with their breathing, wisps of vital blood were extracted by the iron chains and injected into the blood pool.

"These beasts..." The veins on Song Xinghe's hand gripping the sword bulged violently.

Deng Mufeng covered her mouth, forcefully suppressing the urge to vomit.

Anger burned in Zhou Zhiting's eyes: "Senior Brother, save them!"

Bai Yunzhou nodded and was about to step forward—

"Save? You'd better save yourselves first."

A chilling voice came from the depths of the cavern.

An old man in a black robe slowly walked out, followed by eight blood-robed Cultivators. The old man's face was withered and his eye sockets were deeply sunken, but the aura around his body had reached the Peak of Early Stage Nascent Soul.

"Blood God Cult deacon, Xueshuo." Ling Shuang recognized the newcomer. "Peak Early Stage Nascent Soul, Cultivates the 《Blood Skeleton Demonic Technique, once slaughtered three Mortal cities to refine skeletons."

Xueshuo grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "The little girl from Ice Soul Sword Valley actually knows this old man quite well. Unfortunately, today all of you will become sacrifices for the Blood God Lord."

He waved his hand.

The blood pool churned violently, and three huge figures stood up from within.

Those were three blood-red skeletons, each three zhang tall, with viscous plasma flowing on the surface of their bones. Gloomy green ghost fires burned in their eye sockets, emitting an aura comparable to Perfection Core Formation.

"Blood God Puppets... and there are three of them..." Deng Mufeng's face turned pale.

"Not just them." Bai Yunzhou looked towards the top of the cavern.

There, dozens of blood-red bats hung upside down. Each was the size of a washbasin, the edges of their wings as sharp as knives, and their scarlet eyes stared fixedly downward.

"Blood-Winged Demonic Bats, each equivalent to Late Stage Foundation Establishment." Ling Shuang said in a deep voice, "Being scratched by their claws will cause one to be infected with blood poison, turning into pus and blood within three hours."

Xueshuo laughed loudly: "It seems you have done your homework. Then you should know even better that today, none of you can leave."

He formed hand seals with both hands, and a large amount of bloody water surged out from the blood pool again, condensing into nine thick blood pythons that sealed off all paths of retreat.

"Senior Brother Song, Senior Sister Deng, you deal with the Blood-Winged Demonic Bats. Miss Ling, those three Puppets are yours. Zhiting, go save the people, be careful that those iron chains have mechanisms."

Bai Yunzhou quickly assigned the tasks, then looked at Xueshuo.

"Old thing, your opponent is me."

Xueshuo sneered savagely: "Perfection Core Formation, yet you dare to provoke a Nascent Soul? Seeking death!"

His figure flashed, turning into a blood shadow as he lunged straight at Bai Yunzhou.

The speed reached the absolute extreme, leaving only a blood-red afterimage in the air.

But Bai Yunzhou was even faster.

zhuiyun boots flashed with spiritual light, he sidestepped to avoid Xueshuo's lunge, and the liefeng sword slashed out smoothly.

"Clang!"

Xueshuo blocked with his arm, unexpectedly producing the sound of metal clashing. The surface of his arm was covered with a layer of blood-red bone armor, incomparably hard.

"Blood Skeleton Demonic Body?" Bai Yunzhou raised an eyebrow.

"You have some knowledge!" Xueshuo laughed wildly, his fists hammering out like raindrops.

Every punch carried a dense blood fiend power, and wherever the fist wind passed, the air was dyed red.

Bai Yunzhou did not dodge or evade, opening his Green Lotus Sword Domain.

The pale cyan halo enveloped a radius of three chi around his body, and the blood fiend fist force smashed against the sword domain, producing a sizzling corrosion sound, but it could never break through.

"Sword Domain?!" Xueshuo's expression changed. "You are only at Perfection Core Formation, how is it possible..."

Before his voice finished, Bai Yunzhou had already stabbed over with a sword.

Qinglian Thunder Sword — Thunder Sound Slash!

The sword light was silent, while the thunder sound roared.

Xueshuo wanted to retreat, but found that the surrounding space was paralyzed by the power of thunder and lightning, and his movements were half a beat slow.

"Puff!"

The sword light pierced through his left shoulder, leaving a charred hole.

"Ah!!!" Xueshuo screamed miserably. At the wound, Green Lotus Sword Intent and thunder-lightning power frantically eroded, preventing his flesh and blood from regenerating.

He frantically urged the blood fiend power, wanting to force out the Sword Intent, only to find that the Sword Intent was like bone-gnawing maggots, completely impossible to clear away.

"Th-This what kind of Sword Intent is this?!" Xueshuo was terrified.

Bai Yunzhou did not answer, the second sword had already arrived.

Qinglian Sword Canon Sixth Form — Qinglian Void-Slaying!

This sword carried a sliver of true intent he had comprehended from "Chaos Opening the Heavens".

As the sword came out, space seemed to be torn apart.

Xueshuo's pupils shrank sharply. Under the crisis of life and death, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of vital blood.

The vital blood turned into a blood-red shield in the air, and a ferocious ghost face appeared on the surface of the shield.

The sword light slashed onto the shield.

"Crack—"

The shield shattered at the sound, and the ghost face let out a shrill wail, dissipating into nothingness.

But the power of this sword was also mostly weakened, leaving only a bone-deep wound on Xueshuo's chest.

"Dammit! Dammit!" Xueshuo was furious. He took out a blood-red token from his bosom and crushed it hard.

"Blood God Guards! Come out for me!"

Heavy footsteps came from the depths of the cavern.

Four figures wearing blood-red heavy armor walked out, and with every step they fell, the ground shook because of it.

Their entire bodies were covered by heavy armor, revealing only a pair of scarlet eyes. They held blood-red long sabers in their hands, with viscous blood flowing on the blades.

The aura of each one had reached Early Stage Nascent Soul!

"Blood God Guards... the death soldiers of the Blood God Cult..." Ling Shuang's expression was solemn.

These Blood God Guards lacked intelligence, were fierce and unafraid of death, and their physical bodies had undergone special sacrificial refining, comparable to a Low Grade Magic Treasure.

The joint effort of four Blood God Guards was enough to stall a Middle Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator.

"Kid, to be able to force this old man to use the Blood God Guards, you can consider your death worthwhile."

Xueshuo panted, blood light circulating at his wound as it slowly healed.

Bai Yunzhou glanced at the battlefield.

Song Xinghe and Deng Mufeng were locked in a bitter battle with the Blood-Winged Demonic Bats. Although they were not at a disadvantage for the moment, their spiritual power consumption was massive.

Ling Shuang was fighting three opponents alone. Her ice soul sword technique kept the blood malevolence in check, having already suppressed the three Blood God Puppets, but it would still take time to completely destroy them.

Zhou Zhiting had already rescued seven trapped people, but the Restrictions on the iron chains were very troublesome; unravelling each one required consuming a fair amount of spiritual power.

They could not drag this out any longer.

Bai Yunzhou took a deep breath and pulled a nirvana sword talisman from his bosom.

"Old thing, do you think only you have trump cards?"

He slapped the sword Talisman onto the liefeng sword.

The sword Talisman melted into a pitch-black liquid, spreading along the blade. Wherever it passed, the originally silvery-gray blade of the liefeng sword gradually transformed into a deep, abyssal black.

An intent of sword that annihilated all things emanated from the blade.

"T-This is…" Xueshuo's expression changed drastically. "Soul Transformation Sword Intent?!"

He wanted to escape, but it was already too late.

Bai Yunzhou slashed out with a single sword strike.

There was no light, no sound, only a pure darkness.

Wherever the darkness passed, space seemed to be erased, and the blood malevolence melted away like ice and snow.

The four Blood God Guards bore the brunt of it.

They raised their long sabers to block, but the moment the sabers touched the darkness, they shattered inch by inch. Following closely were their heavy armor, physical bodies, bones…

Like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser, the four Blood God Guards vanished soundlessly just like that.

Not even a trace of ash was left behind.

Xueshuo was frightened into Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, turning around to escape into the blood pool.

But the darkness was even faster.

It caught up to Xueshuo and engulfed him.

"No—!!!"

The shrill, miserable scream came to an abrupt halt.

When the darkness dissipated, Xueshuo had completely vanished, leaving not even his storage ring behind.

nirvana sword talisman, wiping out five Nascent Souls in a single strike.

The entire scene fell into a dead silence.

The Blood-Winged Demonic Bats fled in all directions in fright, and the Blood God Puppets also stopped moving, the ghost fires in their eye sockets beating violently.

"What are you still standing there dazing for?" Bai Yunzhou said coldly. "Kill them all."

Everyone snapped back to their senses and immediately attacked with all their might.

Lacking Xueshuo's control, the combat power of the Blood-Winged Demonic Bats and Blood God Puppets plummeted, and they were quickly wiped out completely.

Zhou Zhiting also unfastened all the iron chains, rescuing thirty-six trapped people.

Most of these people were already on their last breath, with severe depletion of essence blood and their cultivation completely crippled. However, there were also a few with higher cultivation who still retained a shred of consciousness.

"Th-Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives…" a white-haired old man trembled as he bowed.

"What people are you? How did you get captured here?" Bai Yunzhou asked.

The old man gave a bitter smile. "This old man is a Loose Cultivator from 'Qinglan City', abducted by the Blood God Cult three months ago. Every three days, they would extract our essence blood once and pour it into the blood pool…"

"What is the blood pool used for?"

"Refining Blood God Puppets." The old man pointed toward the depths of the cave. "There is a larger workshop there that has already refined over a hundred Puppets. I heard… they plan to use these Puppets to attack the Taixuan Holy Land."

Bai Yunzhou's gaze turned cold.

Attack the Holy Land?

Such grand ambition.

He walked to the edge of the blood pool and observed carefully.

The blood water in the pool churned, and countless tiny runes could be vaguely seen circulating within it. At the bottom of the pool, something seemed to be glowing.

"Miss Ling, the blood soul crystal core you mentioned…"

"It should be at the bottom of the pool." Ling Shuang walked to the edge of the pool and took out an ice-blue bead. "This is the 'Soul-Fixing Bead', which can sense the location of the blood soul crystal core."

The bead hovered above the surface of the pool, rotating slowly.

Three breaths later, the bead abruptly shot out a beam of blue light, pointing directly at a certain spot at the bottom of the pool.

"It's there."

Bai Yunzhou leaped into the blood pool.

The blood water was viscous and ice-cold, carrying strong corrosiveness. However, the Qinglian Sword Body operated automatically, forming a light cyan protective film on the surface of his body to isolate the blood water outside.

He dived downwards.

The further down he went, the thicker the blood water became, and the lower the visibility. Chaos Perception was also suppressed here, only able to detect a range of three zhang around him.

After diving down about thirty zhang, a faint red light appeared ahead.

That was a fist-sized blood-colored spar suspended in the center of the bottom of the pool. The surface of the spar was covered with dense runes, and an infant-like phantom was faintly slumbering inside.

The blood soul crystal core.

Bai Yunzhou reached out to grab it.

Just at the moment his fingertips were about to touch the crystal core—

The crystal core suddenly exploded!

Countless blood-colored threads burst out from within, winding towards Bai Yunzhou like venomous snakes.

"Not good!"

Bai Yunzhou retreated abruptly, slashing continuously with the liefeng sword to cut off dozens of threads.

But there were simply too many threads, layer upon layer, trapping him into a blood-colored cocoon in the blink of an eye.

Inside the cocoon, the blood-colored threads frantically drilled into his body, attempting to corrode his Meridians and Dantian.

"You want to subject me to Possession?" Bai Yunzhou sneered.

The Chaos Green Lotus Body operated at full strength, and the qinglian phantom in his Dantian suddenly blossomed.

A light cyan glow emanated from within his body. Wherever it passed, the blood-colored threads encountered their nemesis, snapping and dissolving one after another.

"Mere remnant soul, how dare you act presumptuously!"

He gave a low shout, and the Green Lotus Sword Heart in his Sea of Consciousness trembled, releasing a pure Sword Intent.

The Sword Intent swept across, and the blood-colored threads were completely annihilated.

At the core of the crystal core, that infant-like phantom let out a shrill scream and completely dissipated.

Bai Yunzhou grabbed the crystal core and rushed out of the water surface.

"Got it."

He tossed the crystal core to Ling Shuang.

Ling Shuang caught it, checked it carefully, and nodded. "The quality is complete, enough to refine three ice soul marrow-washing pills."

Zhou Zhiting's eyes lit up.

Bai Yunzhou looked around, his gaze finally falling upon those rescued Cultivators.

"Senior Sister Deng, distribute Medicinal Pills to them to restore their physical strength. An incense stick's time later, we leave this place."

"Then this blood pool…" Song Xinghe asked.

"Destroy it."

Bai Yunzhou walked to the edge of the blood pool and took out three pieces of "Heavenly Thunder Soul-Breaking Powder", tossing all of them into the pool.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

The blood pool churned violently, emitting a large amount of white smoke. The blood water in the pool evaporated and was purified at a speed visible to the naked eye.

An incense stick's time later, the entire blood pool dried up to the bottom, leaving only a huge pit.

"Let's go."

Everyone brought the rescued Cultivators and returned by the original route.

When walking to the cave entrance, Bai Yunzhou suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He turned his head and looked toward the depths of the cave.

There seemed to be an even deeper passage there, leading further into the underground depths.

Chaos Perception faintly sent out an early warning—down below, there was an extremely dangerous thing.

But now was not the time to investigate.

"Let's leave first and report back to the Holy Land later."

The group rushed out of the cave, rose into the air on their swords, and vanished into the distant horizon.

Not long after they left.

Deep inside the cave, within that hidden passage, a figure slowly walked out.

That was a middle-aged man wearing a blood-colored robe with an ordinary face, but his eyes were scarlet like blood.

He watched the direction where Bai Yunzhou and the others left, a strange smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Chaos Green Lotus Body… truly lives up to its reputation."

"Pity, it is not yet time…"

"Wait a little longer… until Lord Blood God descends…"

"By then, you will be the best sacrificial offering…"

The man turned into a wisp of blood mist and dissipated into the air.

As if he had never existed.

…

Three hundred miles away, in the Immortal Cave of Liuyun Peak.

Bai Yunzhou sat cross-legged, three things floating in front of him.

The first was the "Blood God Token" searched out from Xueshuo's storage ring—this was the identity token of members above the deacon rank of the Blood God Cult, inside which a lot of intelligence was recorded.

The second was a blood-colored Jade Slip, which recorded part of the content of the "Blood Sacrifice Plan".

The third was a map—marking the nine strongholds of the Blood God Cult in the Northern Domain, with Wanmo Cave being just one of them.

His Divine Sense probed into the blood-colored Jade Slip.

A massive amount of information surged into his mind:

[Blood Sacrifice Plan · Phase One]

[Objective: Taking the nine strongholds as the core, set up the "Nine Nether Blood Sea Formation"]

[Progress: Wanmo Cave (Completed), Black Wind Mountain Range (In Progress), Nether Swamp (Not Started)…]

[Ultimate Objective: Sacrifice one million living beings, summon the Blood God Clone (Soul Transformation Stage combat power), breach the Taixuan Holy Land, and seize the "Xuanhuang Leylines"]

Bai Yunzhou's pupils constricted.

Breach the Holy Land? Seize the Xuanhuang Leylines?

The Blood God Cult… what a massive stroke!

He continued reading downwards.

[Phase Two]

[Objective: Based on the Xuanhuang Leylines, refine the "Blood Divine Pill"]

[Effect: The user can reach the heavens in a single step and go straight to Soul Transformation, but it requires a Chaos Physique as a medicinal primer]

Chaos body?

Bai Yunzhou's heart grew stern.

No wonder when Xueshuo saw him, his gaze was so greedy.

No wonder Han Qiu would say "Your Physique is very delicious".

So the Chaos Green Lotus Body was the key medicinal primer for refining the Blood Divine Pill!

"You want to treat me as medicinal material?" Cold light flickered in Bai Yunzhou's eyes. "Then let's see who eats whom."

He put away the Jade Slip and looked at the map.

Of the nine strongholds, one had already been destroyed, leaving eight remaining.

Among them, three were within the sphere of influence of the Holy Land, and five were in the desolate wilderness.

"It seems I'll have to uproot them one by one."

Bai Yunzhou stood up and walked to the window of the Immortal Cave.

The night was already deep, and the Holy Land was shrouded in silence.

But he knew that beneath this silence, undercurrents were surging.

The Blood God Cult, Youquan Valley, Fenji Sect… and the possible traitors within the Holy Land.

"Come on."

He muttered to himself softly.

"Let me see what other tricks you people have left."